Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is a laser fabricated in a vertical orientation such that light emission is perpendicular to a top (or bottom) surface of the VCSEL. VCSELs may be commonly used because they may be fabricated on semiconductor wafers using standard semiconductor processes, may be easily tested during fabrication, and may be a simple way to provide optical capabilities to semiconductor-based integrated circuits. Because VCSELs emit light perpendicular to the surface of the laser, tens of thousands of VCSELs can be processed on a single wafer.